Nick Clegg: 'We will not cut the 50p tax rate'

The Deputy Prime Minister says cutting tax rates for people who earn more than anybody else is not a priority for the Government when times are so tough for everyone.

2:51PM GMT 11 Nov 2011

In a letter to the Chancellor, more than 30 of the City’s top figures agree that the “current turmoil in southern Europe” means that the Government must take “immediate actions” to boost confidence.

They call for the immediate scrapping of the 50p rate to attract entrepreneurs to Britain and a £1,000 increase in the tax-free personal allowance.

Among the signatories are Sir Nigel Rudd, the chairman of BAA, the airports operator; Chris Grigg, the chief executive of British Land; Tony Pidgley, the chairman of Berkeley Group, the house-builder; Harvey McGrath, the chairman of Prudential; and Ian Powell, the chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

But the Deputy Prime Minister, visiting a nursery in North London, insisted that the Liberal Democrats’ plans to cut taxes for low-paid workers must come before Tory moves to ease the tax burden on the wealthy.

"I do not believe that the priority at a time like that is to give a tax cut to a tiny, tiny number of people who are much, much better off than anyone else," he said.